Welcome back! Looks like I missed last month's post. I don't even know what happened. However, we've had to add kitten care to our usual busy schedule. So it could've been me just adjusting to the new norm.
Gardening Update
I've got a few things to share with you today. First, our garden that was so beautifully green just a month ago is now not looking so great. It seems we had an entire colony of cowboy bugs (click here to see what they look like, except the ones in our area are usually all black) move into the beautiful, green and yellow squash patch. I can't really blame them. It was the proverbial land of milk and honey, after all.
My sunflowers suffered a similar fate but from what, we aren't sure. We found some other kind of flying insect I didn't recognize. My dad, who's been gardening in this area for as long as I can remember, hasn't ever seen them before either. Their backs are black or a very dark brown. Their bellies, which we never saw until we killed them with soap spray, are a burnt orange in color. They're quick and they fly. If y'all know what they are, I'd love to hear from you! I had to cut off tons of massive, once-beautiful leaves because they were turning dry and brown.
Our cucumbers, on the other hand, are doing pretty well. I'm hoping to have at least one jar of dill pickles fermenting soon. We've harvested seven cucumbers so far and they look really nice.
The wildflower seeds I planted seem to be doing well. I'm happy with that. I'd also planted some containers and those seem to be surviving. My tomatoes and herb seed starts didn't make it. :(
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| Start at the left and moving clockwise: Four of our cucumbers; the one really nice squash that might actually turn out well; new squash blossoms; and our tallest sunflower which is putting out a flower head. |
Kittens!
I don't remember if I mentioned that our momma cat had a litter of three kittens, two gray and one pale orange. Well, she was hunting one night in April and got hit by a car. The kittens were 3-4 weeks old at that point, still too young to wean. We had a friend whose momma cat had just had a litter of her own. She offered to try and see if this cat would accept our kittens.
To make a long story short, only two survived -- the orange one and the larger gray kitten. We've been keeping them inside our house. So far, they're doing pretty well with litter training. We may keep them inside, but they are so extremely playful. It may be better for them to go outside. We'll have to see how they do.
I have a couple of videos to share with you, though. The orange kitten is Spartacus and the gray is Dusk. They're super cute and fun to watch, but they're still so tiny it's difficult to leave them out of the kennel too long. They get underfoot really quickly. The last young cat we had in the house was at least double their size when we got him, so we aren't used to having them bumble around the house.
Playtime
Mealtime
On the Education Front
Ro is still working her way through the PACEs and she may be working through the year this time. Taking breaks more often seems to make the work a little easier for her. And the PACEs have really helped, breaking the work into manageable chunks.
I'm happy we're having a little easier time of it now and seem to be settling into a good pattern. One more year and she'll be done. She's very much looking forward to that. How's your school year going? What type of hobbies do your students pursue? How do you incorporate those into your classroom? Please feel free to share in the comments below.
A Breath of Hope
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